Looking For Healthy Halloween Options? Try These Sweet and Savory Snacks
One of the most iconic Halloween desserts is the “dirt cup”, which typically involves some combination of crumbled Oreos, gummy worms, and pudding. It’s a clever bit of culinary invention but it’s also not the healthiest option (not that Halloween is an especially healthy holiday, but still).
Loathe to part with such a nostalgic tradition (those dirt cups are the stuff Americana is made of!), we decided to offer our own GC spin on Halloween party snacks, by making two different nutritious, plant-based dishes (one sweet, and one savory) that are great additions to any Halloween party.
The first is a savory “graveyard” made by layering boiled sweet potato (trust us, baking has nothing on boiling as far as texture goes) and red quinoa. Season your sweet potato and quinoa as you like (olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper is always a safe bet) and alternate half inches to fill a wide dish. On top, decorate with toast or pita chips shaped into graves and (Staff Writer Nora Mueller’s crowning achievement) radishes carved into skulls. The dish can be prepared in advance and heated in the oven– just wait until it’s out of the oven to add the skulls and graves.
Of course, Halloween isn’t really Halloween without some sweets, so GC Graphic Designer and in-house chef Eidia Moni Amin made vegan bat and cat cookies, using dark chocolate and date sugar (whose praises we’ve previously sung). Channel your inner Dracula and decorate as you see fit. Check out the recipe below!
GC’s Vegan Halloween Cookies
2 hoursIngredients
- 1/2 cup vegan butter
- 2/3 cup date sugar
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 Tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp almond milk
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- vegan dark chocolate chips
Preparation
Beat room temperature butter with a hand mixer until fluffy. Add sugar, vanilla, and pumpkin puree and mix until completely blended.
Lay a piece of parchment paper over a flat surface. Sift dry ingredients over parchment paper twice so that everything is well combined. Then add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in two parts, mixing with a wooden spoon until well combined. At the very end, add almond milk so the dough is soft.
Shape dough into a disk that is 3/4″ thick, wrap, and place in the freezer for 15 minutes or in the fridge for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Shape one tablespoon of dough into a ball, dust with flour, and flatten with a rolling pin. (You can cover dough in wax paper to make it easier.) Roll out to approximately 1/4″ thickness (not paper thin), remove wax paper, and use bat cookie cutter to cut.
Once you cut the shapes, freeze for 15 mins or place them in the fridge for half an hour on cookie sheet. Remove and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden. Cool on a rack until room temp.
For frosting, simply melt down chocolate chips and coat room temperature cookies. Eat up quick– these cookies will fly right off the plate!
